It was a beautiful crisp morning when I left home at 6:30am from Redcliffe. It was while refueling just down the road I remembered I had forgotten Mal’s trip notes. This trip was a practice run for the Corroboree Self-drive Governor’s Chair Lookout trip. Boxxy had emailed me the trip notes, I had them but wanted to do the trip without studying the notes, as though they had just been handed to me. Should I go back home and getting the notes, no, I thought Boxxy would have his copy as he would be riding shotgun with me today. So I continued on.

Usually when heading west from Redcliffe I take the gateway motorway to Eagle Farm exiting onto Kingsford Smith Drive to Inner City Bypass then onto Milton Road to Centenary Highway. Today I was able to take Legacy Way which is the new tunnel connecting ICB to Centenary Highway. I did this and it was certainly quicker but cost $3. Once on the Cunningham it was an easy run to Kalbar.

We met at Kalbar Bakery at 8am. The other attendees were just finishing their coffee. Trip sheet signed, I then asked Boxxy if he had his trip notes. I then got a typical Boxxy look and comment, ….............. I told everybody to order another coffee. Thanks to my PA who dictated Mal’s notes to me, (Mal you missed out on an early Sunday morning call). I was able to grab some breakfast from the bakery and brief the group about the day’s trip.

The trip started on Edward Street at the back entry to the showground which is where we started the trip. From here we headed to Old Kalbar road. Boxxy was now my navigator with me driving. While we were reviewing the trip notes I missed the first turn onto Old Kalbar Road. Oops, another fine. The trip took us past Lake Moogerah. Several people in the group had not been here before and it has been years since I’ve been here. So we turned in at the dam wall carpark and I’m glad we did. It was a beautiful calm morning on the lake. Tom mentioned that we could walk across the dam wall which he and Kelli did, the rest of us made it half way. At the moment the lake is very full, brimming at the spillway. We grabbed a quick group photo then continued on.

From here we headed to Spicer’s Gap Road turnoff. We would continue on bitumen then onto gravel at Main Range National Park. It is a well graded dirt road. We stopped at the Pioneer Grave memorial. There are 13 known graves in this area and this memorial was erected in their honour. We continued on to Moss’s well. It is only 60m off the track. S short walk. I was a little disappointed at what I saw. There is just a small circle of bricks with a small pool of water but back in the 1800s this water would have meant life and death in this part of the mountain. It’s amazing how in this day and age we take necessities such as water for granted. A thirsty man would be thrilled to find such a fresh spring water such as this. It made me thankful.From here it is only a short drive to the Governor’s Chair lookout car park. We all walked the short distance to the lookout which thankfully has not been barred off with safety rails. There are warning signs of the sheer cliff. From the lookout there are endless views of the Fassifern Valley and Lake Moogerah. It was a beautiful day to be right here and I wondered what the rich people were doing. After some photos, we walked back to the carpark. Jen, Hamish and I walked up the Heritage track to the rock pavement laid by convicts to stabilize the original road up Spicer’s Gap. Once again I was a little disappointed in what was being preserved but realized that the pavement was not made to carry 3 tonne 4WD vehicles which have slowly broken these pavement areas while the track was open. We walked back to the carpark, it was time for lunch.

I had decided to finish the trip at the Aratulla Pub which would be our lunch stop.On the way back we stopped at the campground here. There are grassed areas for camping that are surrounded by bollards, compost toilets but no water, in the day use area there are BBQs but none in the camping area. Once we had had a look, it was only a short drive back to the pub at Aratula, our lunch stop. Most of us had either a steak or chicken burger with chips. Best chips I’ve had in ages but unfortunately the steak was very well done. By now it was 1pm so most of the group headed home from here. I wanted to take a run to Cannon Creek Road which is also listed as a self drive for the corroboree.

So after good byes Tom and I continued to Boonah and onto Cannon Creek Road. It is a gravel road through the hills behind Boonah. In sections it is a dry weather road only. It is an easy run. We continued over to Green Hill Road and through a gate onto Grigors Road. I have done this road once before on a Mangali Tour. I warned Tom not to take any notice of the “Bridge Closed” sign at the beginning of the road. I locked my hubs at the gate. Council has done some road works at the beginning of the road which gives you a false sense of what is ahead. Once we got to the closed bridge the fun starts. It is an easy low ranged climb out of the creek and up several rock steps. It would be a great night run trip. Once we had popped back up onto the bitumen it was 3pm. So we decided to head home. It would be 5pm before I got home.

Thanks to Mal for his trip notes. They were spot on. Thanks to all those who attended. I had a great trip and enjoyed the day.

you couldn't have followed my trip notes to closely, you're supposed the visit the dam on the way back from the Governors Chair Lookout How long did the drive take to do? I only guessed the time frame when i wrote it, as we were continually stopping writing notes along the way

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Just a heads up...Jeff has changed his signature due to being foolish enough to leave his account logged on when he borrowed my phone.I preferred his signature i'd written there myself before he changed it...lolNice try Grasshopper!!!!!